FMCA Profiles ‘Millennium Luxury Coaches’

Editor’s Note: The following article, authored by Chris Dougherty for the June issue of Family Motor Coaching magazine, offers an inside look at Prevost conversion builder Millennium Luxury Coaches. The magazine is published by Cincinnati-based Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA).To read the entire article click here.

When you are into RVing the way this author is, you can’t help but dream. I have often dreamed of conversion coaches … RV art built into the ultimate platform for camping nirvana. Not long ago, I couldn’t even imagine driving one. Then I met Evelyn and Nelson Figueroa and their team at Millennium Luxury Coaches, along with the Prevost design and sales team, at the Florida RV SuperShow in Tampa this past January. I came away knowing much more about the conversion coach side of the RV industry, and also learned what happens when two people bring their own dream to fruition. The result is a company that is arguably building some of the nicest conversion coaches on the planet.

Millennium was founded in a storage unit back in 2001. Nelson, an avionics and marine electronics expert, and Evelyn, a trauma nurse, set out to build and renovate conversion coaches, enlisting a handful of people to work with them. “I initially signed up to run a service shop,” Evelyn said as we sat among two completed — and sold — coaches and an empty Prevost shell at the Tampa RV show. “The rest is history,” she added.

Nelson, always a hands-on guy “who likes to break things, then make them work better,” noted that he is fortunate to have Evelyn as his partner. “She is the strength and the brains behind everything,” he said, as we approached a 2015 H3-45 quad-slideout conversion.

I was amazed by the coach’s exterior paint, the result of 1,200 man-hours of work. The finish seems smoother than glass, resembling a three-dimensional pool that one could sink one’s hand into.

Stepping Inside

If the exterior doesn’t get you, the interior will. This coach is handsomely appointed throughout. Driving comfort also is well looked after, and the well-equipped driver’s compartment is replete with technology, a Millennium hallmark.

The driver and passenger seats are covered in cream leather, with genuine stingray hide in the center. The driver’s seat is mounted on an ISRI air-ride, eight-way-adjustable base, with air controls, massage, and heating and cooling capabilities.

The custom-molded fiberglass dashboard is clad in leather, with double baseball stitching. Custom burl-wood dash panels match up with the “Smart Wheel” steering wheel, which also features inlaid burl wood.

The instrument panel could be straight out of a Citation jet. Gauges and controls are smartly placed. The parking brake control is out of the way and well-protected. A permanently mounted iPad interface on the dash gives the client full control over all coach systems, weather information, and navigation; the combination GPS and stereo unit is mounted just above and has a retractable screen. In addition, a 40-channel CB radio is installed in the dash above the heating and air-conditioning controls. Electric sunscreens and privacy shades can be controlled at each seat position and via the Savant system (more about that later).

The Smart Wheel interface controls many of the coach’s important driving features. An LCD screen, mounted on the left-side A-post, is connected to a series of external cameras. It activates along with the coach’s turn signal and also operates a pan-and-tilt camera on the rear.

In the coach I toured, browns and tans are the primary colors, accented with cream ceilings. Granite and exotic tile are commonplace. A central free-form ceiling fixture is adorned with brass and concealed LED lighting. The furniture is covered in brown leather and includes a breakfast bar, a sofa, and a Euro-lounger with ottoman. Technology surrounds occupants, including a 55-inch LED high-definition television in the salon area, which lowers from the ceiling via a mechanism designed for use in a marine environment, so no squeaks or rattles are detectable.